“A huge shout of gratitude to Valerie Guerrero for her tremendous part in helping our brand emerge into the limelight! I started House of Matriarch as a one woman show six years ago and now we are a 13 person operation across 9 states with an artisan brand valued in the millions and a new retail partner: Nordstrom!
A huge contributor to us becoming the only ‘truly artisan’ perfume brand currently on-shelf of a major luxury retailer is that we decided to fully optimize our membership in TAG and took on every offer to participate in giftings for 2014 & 2015. It was a lot of work for us and stretched us beyond our normal capacity, plus it was expensive to gift so much merchandise, (and all those leather pouches!) but we knew we were planting good seeds and we stayed committed to being all-in. I just had a feeling it would pay off.
We spent over 100 hours on social media follow up’s after events, and it greatly expanded our reach and fan base. Having the celebrity piece rounded out our presentation to show that we were good enough to make the cut and that trendsetters and celebrities liked our aesthetic and our perfumes. There was also a hidden benefit: working with Valerie on all of the events readied us for the rigorous requirements and demands of dealing with retail buyers and logistics to get our product on the shelf at Nordstrom.
Valerie runs a tight ship but TAG’s requirements and procedures are a cakewalk compared to big retail. Not all artisans want to go bigger, but if you do, TAG is the perfect training ground to measure if you are ready for the demands of a retail partner. I can’t say enough how much we appreciate your excellence and the platform you have created here for artisans to grow and be seen. We are forever grateful to you, Valerie for your part in our growth and success!”